Noel’s POV

I woke feeling refreshed and, for the first time in a long while, genuinely happy. In the past few weeks I had worn no smile, but today a smug grin danced on my lips as I admired my face in the mirror while I brushed and the smile was justified. I hadn’t just caught the betrayer who had been on the run for so long, I had him tied up and waiting my judgment. It had been ages since I had an unwinding feast, suddenly everyone had been so well behaved but today I was going to have one.

I hummed as I dried my face, taking in every detail and noticing a pimple on my left cheek. I didn’t usually pay this much attention to myself unless I was in a good mood like this. I hung my towel and reached to pop the pimple but the ringing of my phone stopped me in the tracks. I picked it up and immediately sighed when I saw the caller ID.

“What can I do for you?” I asked as soon as I pressed accept.

He burst into laughter on the other end. “Chill, man. Are you still upset at me? Come on that’s childish,” he said, chuckling.

“I guess you have nothing important to say, then. Bye,” I snapped ready to hang up.

“Of course I have something important to say. How did my boy do? You never got back to me on his performance,” he pressed.

“Wait... did you say your boy? Which boy?” I demanded.

“The intern I sent, James,” he said.

“What? There was no boy, the person they picked from the hospital was a girl,” I said.

“What? Who the fuck did your men pick?” he shouted.

I hung up immediately, threw on some clothes, and ran downstairs. I met Shedrack head on and landed a loud slap across his face.

“Who the fuck did you pick up from the hospital yesterday?” I demanded, grabbing his collar.

He looked as confused as I felt. After a few more punches, he finally explained: they had confirmed with the girl before picking her up at the door, which meant she had lied about her name and willingly followed them. I felt my patience snapping while I waited for them to dig into her background.

This industry had taught me plenty of lessons you couldn’t learn in a classroom and I could no longer assume even a baby was innocent until proven otherwise. Anybody could be sent to ruin you.

I was able to breathe properly again after the data and Benson’s clarification came in. The girl’s name was Rita, a surgical intern. She had agreed to switch places with James, the person Ben originally recommended, because James had promised her money. That was exactly how people walked to the door of their doom for money.

She is an orphan and lives with two siblings, Loveth and Stanley; a teenager and a young adult she sponsored single-handedly. She had been in a four-year relationship with a young, dedicated prosecutor named Clifford, a man with a bright future.

After going through her file, I had unknowingly taken a deep sigh of relief. Killing such a young hustler and provider for her siblings would have been… a bit saddening. Not that I cared much, I didn’t mind taking down anything that threatened my reputation but still, it gave me pause.

I settled, had a light breakfast, and set out for the hidden warehouse to complete my first assignment of the day: torturing a very bad sinner who needed punishing. The secret warehouse was my sanctuary on days like this. I built it on the outskirts of the city where no one would find it, and even if they did, they wouldn’t know what happened behind the big gate.

Of course, Grandpa had found out about it eventually, but everything was already covered. I presented it as a calm place where I connected with nature and unwound when stressed. He bought the act and, satisfied with the little production I put on once in a while in the location, never asked again. That was why I would do anything to protect my space.

When I arrived at the warehouse, everything was ready. Richard was awake and I got to work immediately. It was so much fun to unwind after very long weeks. As I shattered his skull and blood splashed on my face, I took a long breath to savor the moment but it was ruined. A cry from the window cut through the satisfaction.

The poor girl I had hoped to let go at the end of the day was once again standing, willingly, at the door of doom. She bolted, but it took seconds for them to catch her and throw her at my feet. She kicked and screamed, cursing me loudly.

I genuinely wanted to let her go but now I couldn’t. She had seen what she shouldn’t have. It was a pity. I ordered my men to take care of her, she was too loud and I hated it. Unexpectedly, though, her cries weren’t just noise in my ears. When she mentioned her siblings, I felt something I couldn’t name, my heart tightened for reasons I didn’t want to admit.

I was startled by the sudden, involuntary thoughts invading my mind. When had I started putting myself in other people’s shoes? This had never been my thing. I tried to shake it off and forget about her, but I couldn’t. A sudden urgency overwhelmed me and I ran toward the direction she was being dragged.

I arrived at the cell just in time to stop Shedrack from pulling the trigger.

“Step back,” I ordered, and faced the girl. He dropped the gun and exit the room.

“Please spare me. I swear I won’t tell anyone what I saw. Please let me go,” she sobbed on her knees.

“Do you want to stay alive and possibly see your siblings again?” I asked. She nodded frantically.

“Good. Actually, we might have an alternative to this,” I said, voice steady. “Instead of blowing your skull here, we can take another route. For me to let you go, I need to make sure you won’t say anything that happened here. For that to be possible, I need to keep you close and for you to be close enough, you need to do one thing.”

I stepped closer and, without thinking, smeared the blood on my hand across her face.

“Marry me and bear my name. That way you will be one of me and I won’t worry about you telling on me,” I told her.

She froze, stunned, I was stunned too. I didn’t know where the thought had come from.

“You have three seconds to decide,” I said, cocking the gun. I placed the barrel against her forehead and started counting. “One… two…”

" Sir we have a problem!" shedrack's panicked voice interrupted me from behind making me stop in my tracks.